So Gluten…

About 2 weeks ago, a friend at church asked me how it was going. She was referring to the diabetes, diet and lifestyle changes, etc.

“It’s going great! I think I’ve really hit my stride. I know what my blood glucose levels are going to be at the four times I check during the day. I know what throws them off (refined sugar/too many carbs). My A1C is good. I think I’ve really figured this out.”

Oh does pride go before a fall, my friends.

Literally that next week things were off. My BG weren’t astronomical, but I was getting 150’s in the morning and during the day at times. For the last 2 months, this rarely, rarely happened.

Hmmm…

I had taken a week off working out and getting up on time (shame, shame!), so I thought that must be it.

I worked hard the following week to get my activity and sleep back on schedule, but the BG didn’t right themselves. Still high-ish in the morning, not consistently below 150. Also I’d have these tremor episodes in the middle of the night. If I got up and had a snack, then they’d subside and I could go back to sleep. This was killing me though (1) interrupted sleep and (2) eating during the night were both raising my BG in the morning.

So after a week of being good with my diet, sleep, and exercise, I was pretty much convinced my pancreas must be just dying some more. Why else would my BG be higher all the sudden?

Then two nights ago, Dan came to me, “Honey! That BBQ sauce we just made (right about 2 weeks ago) has whiskey in it!”

“Yes, I know…” – me

“Whiskey has gluten in it!” – Dan

Grrr!

We really liked the new variety of sauce Dan made this time, so we’ve kind of been eating it on everything. I’ve probably had a couple tablespoons 2-3 times a week for the last 2 weeks.

That night, I noticed the eczema is back on my right hand. RATS!

It all makes sense to me now: my tremor episodes? Gluten withdrawal that usually hits 3 days after going gluten-free. I was having gluten often enough that I’d only have the tremors for one night or two before we’d have the sauce again. High BG numbers? It took my body about 4 weeks to have consistent, in range, BG numbers after going gluten-free. So I think I’m going to have higher numbers for a few more weeks. So frustrating!

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Emily…I think you are being way too hard on yourself! You are learning so much and doing so many things right…and your results have been amazing. I love how you and Dan are thinking everything through and working together to make all the adjustments. I’m praying for you to have the strength and determination to continue to press on!